Louella Parsons' former home in Northridge is for sale

Lauren Beale, Los Angeles Times

A Northridge home originally built as a ranch and retreat by renowned Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parsons has come on the market at $798,500.

The two-story French Colonial, part of a 28-acre farm when it was constructed in 1937, sits on slightly more than half an acre today. A sun porch-family room looks out on the backyard lawn, rose garden and swimming pool.

The four-bedroom, 31/2 -bathroom main house has built-in cabinetry in the dining room, a wet bar opening to a den, a kitchen breakfast area and a butler's pantry. One of the two master suites has a fireplace. The guest quarters have a separate entrance and another bathroom for a total of 4,465 square feet of living space.

Parsons, who died in 1972 at 91, started out writing social notes and then a film column. After a bout with tuberculosis in the mid-1920s, she moved to Los Angeles and became a syndicated columnist for William Randolph Hearst. "She held an undisputed position of power in the motion picture industry for 40 years," according to Times archives, opening "the doors on the private lives of movie people, reporting their scandals, romances, feuds and break-ups."